Tomato bruschetta is summer on a plate. If you grow your own tomatoes or buy them fresh off the vine at a farmers market, you won’t need to do much more than chop, salt, and spoon them over toasted slices of ciabatta, flavored with a little garlic and olive oil. A chiffonade of basil over…
Category: Starters
Two-fer: Fig Bruschetta & Fig Bites
Until he gave them up for good a few years ago, my husband loved Fig Newtons with an intensity people usually reserve for their favorite sports teams. I would buy five or six packages at a time and store them on a certain shelf in the pantry, so he’d always have a ready supply. He…
Dinner on the Deck (Pimm’s Cup, Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Honey-Walnut Goat Cheese, Raspberry-Ricotta Cake)
I like people who are adventurous eaters, who don’t mind being guinea pigs for new recipes, and who don’t question a cook who asks them to bring a half pound of roast beef to dinner (sliced on the one, in deli speak). That makes S and J some of my favorite diners on the planet,…
Sausage Rolls II (In Case You Missed It)
Champagne and hot sausage rolls, a capital way to begin a festive holiday. ♦ ♦ ♦ My mother guffawed when, at 17, I told her I was in the running for an award from the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Teachers did the nominating, and I was happy to be considered….
After the Feast
Thanksgiving is over, and it was good. We started the morning with Pumpkin Scones, served with a little cinnamon butter on the side. These were tender and delicious, and I’ll make them again. (Note for next time: try freezing the unbaked wedges overnight, and adjust the baking time accordingly. Might hold their shape a little…
Stuffed Jalapenos
Bo in March 2014 “No cat likes to take medicine,” the veterinary technician said, “but this stuff tastes particularly bad.” Then she demonstrated how to draw up .04 ml of Gabapentin out of the top of the bottle into a syringe without a needle and placed the bottle in my hand. “Good luck,” she said,…
Halftime Nachos
Super Bowls: I watch the commercials; I tend to cooking chores or refill my plate during the actual game. Halftime gets my undivided attention if done well, and Bruno Mars did it well last Sunday. That’s about the time these nachos were ready to eat, so I had the best of all worlds: good food,…
Sausage Rolls
Regiments of Sausage Rolls, ready for the oven ♦ ♦ ♦ I don’t like surprises. I do like apple pies. My husband is an avowed, unrepentant, sour-face-making apple-hater, so, to avoid the calorie intake involved in eating an entire apple pie by myself, I satisfy my apple pie craving with a weekly purchase of the single-serving version…
Cucumber Dip
I so enjoy being the parent of adults. They don’t put cat food up their noses. The conversations are more interesting, the wit is sharp and funny, and I have ready-made experts to explain the intricacies of the modern world to me. Now I know what a meme is. I understand why texting is preferable…
Moontowers and Frozen Margaritas
Maybe you’re thinking now would be a good time to read about Christmas cookies. I’ll get to that another day. However, a nice frozen margarita is a year-round necessity. Consider this post a public service announcement. ♦ ♦ ♦ AUSTIN, TEXAS. I wanted to know what a moontower looked like. First born wanted to taste a freshly-made…
Cookbook Wall 